Category Archives: Ageless Beauty Tips & Techniques

For the last ten years I’ve been on a personal mission to clean out my house of toxic stuff. I overhauled my life and removed (for the most part because nobody is perfect) toxic thinking, relationships, foods, and of course toxic chemicals in my daily existence.

It wasn’t an easy task, but when you want to live a healthier, less-complicated, and happier life, you start doing crazy spontaneous stuff like throwing out all your make-up and conventional cleaning products.

Have you ever done that? Went into your make-up drawer and just chucked it all? Or at least gave it a good spring cleaning?!

How about all the cleaning products underneath your sink—tell me it’s not a bio-hazard zone! When I looked underneath mine so many years ago, it shocked me to see the expired and toxic products lurking in there.

Anyway, here are my top 5 household items that I kept and began to use like a mofo on everything from cleaning the kitchen sink to enhancing my ageless beauty lifestyle!

1. Vinegar (aka mama’s quick-fix helper)

Unclog a drain in a jiffy by pouring 1/2 cup baking soda, 1 cup of vinegar, then follow up with hot water. (See video below)

Need to clean your bathroom quick-style before guests come over? Mix 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water into a spray bottle and use to clean everything from glass to bowl! You can also add a little dish-washing soap to the mix for a deeper clean.

But that’s not all, vinegar is there for you in jam, like when you realize you ran out of shampoo or conditioner in the shower. Just wrap the towel around you and tip-toe to the kitchen and grab that bottle of vinegar and it will make your hair shiny and beautiful!

Vinegar will also quickly relieve and treat skin irritations from sunburn, skin bumps, to acne. And cleans your make-up brushes so well to prevent said skin bumps.

My favorite face mask is one part apple-cider vinegar and one part natural calcium bentonite clay. Hands down it’s the best face mask I know and I do it a few times a month.

2. Baking Soda

In a mug melt 2 tablespoon of coconut oil. Add 2 tablespoon gluten-free flour, 1 tablespoon almond meal, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon coconut raw sugar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, ¼ cup of apple sauce, a few pieces of walnuts and dried cranberries, a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Mix until it’s a cake-like batter then microwave for 3 minutes. Voila! (Make it a-la-mode and top with three twins vanilla Madagascar ice-cream.) I think I just got side-tracked…

Baking soda will literally save the freaking house! When I started to cook more because I wanted to eat healthier, let’s just say the road was a tad hazardous. A little grease fire can be a lot scary! But throw some baking soda on that fire and fire-be-gone! (Food as well)

Then it is baking soda to the rescue again because it will help you clean the oven with said grease fire. Not to mention it will also clean your toilet, tub, and sink. Nothing extra to do, just sprinkle the powder, add water so it becomes paste-like, then put in the elbow-grease.

Baking soda is the best teeth whitener.

Use 1/2 tsp baking soda + 1 tablespoon lemon juice. In a small bowl, mix baking soda with juice. Dry brush your teeth to remove dirt and plaque. Wipe off excess saliva. Using a cotton swab, apply mixture to your teeth. Leave mixture on your teeth for a minute before brushing it off with a toothbrush. (Do not do this too often as it can destroy the enamel of your teeth. 1x a week is suffice.)

Baking soda + coconut oil = refreshing facial!

Baking soda is detoxifying to the skin and helps to remove dead skin cells. Coconut oil, with its antibacterial properties helps to keep the face clean of acne causing bacteria and then nourishes the skin with its antioxidants and deep moisturizing benefits.

In your hand put ½ tsp of baking soda (¼ tsp for sensitive skin) and 1 tsp of coconut oil. Mix and melt together in your hands then scrub your face, neck, and décolletage. Rinse, and with slightly damp skin apply just a bit more coconut oil to lock in moisture.

3. Coconut oil

Not only is coconut oil good for your face, it’s great for your whole body moisturizer. It’s perfect to use especially after you’ve been sunbathing because you will smell like you were just in the tropics, and the antioxidants will help heal your skin from the sun exposure and any free-radicals you made.

Coconut oil is a perfect beauty enhancer because it deeply moisturizes the skin helping to fight fine lines, wrinkles, and aging signs caused by the sun and free-radicals.

Coconut oil is also my go-to treatment for deep hair conditioning. Rub 1-2 tablespoon of coconut oil in your hair, let sit for 1-2 hours then rinse. Or keep it overnight for an intense oil treatment.

Coconut oil makes a great deodorant. Slightly wet your armpits and dab the oil and let it be absorbed before you put on your clothes. Bacteria and sweat is what makes you smell, coconut oil has antibacterial properties that kills the BO bacteria.

And the coconut tree just keeps on giving…

I melt 1 heaping tsp of coconut oil every morning in my tea to strengthen my immune system. Coconut oil has the largest quantity of lauric acid of any food on earth which helps you fight viruses and bacteria that can make you unwell. I also believe this practice is what helps me have strong and healthy hair, nails, and skin.

Coconut oil will polish your wood furniture, de-squeak your door hinges, and helps to soften grout grime so you can scrub that gunk off easier. (Work is never done!)

And of course, coconut oil is the best oil for deep-frying! (I mean, if in your life you ever need to deep fry anything =P )

Like my coconut cauliflower bites…

Melt 1 cup coconut oil in stainless steel frying pan. Mix 2 eggs, ¼ cup of parsley, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir in cauliflower chunks. Then dunk the chunks for 60-90 seconds in the very hot oil and invite me over to watch the latest rom-com!

4. Lemon Juice

One of the best things my mom ever planted was a Meyer lemon tree! Amen to that little tree because it just gives, gives, and gives!

Before I throw the used lemons away, I rub a little of the flesh over my sun spots to help diminish them. (Don’t do this before you go under the sun — and always put sun protection over your sun spots.)

Then toss 1 or 2 pieces in the garbage disposal to freshen the sink and the rest in the garbage as a deodorizer.

5. Olive Oil

Olive oil is the number one beauty enhancer in my book. It helps fight the signs of aging by deeply moisturizing your skin to prevent fine lines and wrinkles, fighting free-radicals, and sun damage.

I never leave home without wearing olive oil all over my body. True story.

I owe to olive oil not only my glowing and ageless skin, but also my shiny, thick, and healthy hair. Every evening, I rub the excess oil from moisturizing my face and body, onto the tips of my hair to promote healthy hair.

The combination of coconut oil and olive oil in my diet and beauty care system is the corner-stone of my ageless beauty and lifestyle.

Extra-virgin olive oil is a good monounsaturated fat that is well-known for its health benefits. But it should be eaten as is—cold pressed, drizzled, and / or mixed with food and NOT used for cooking.

Due to its chemical structure and a large amount of unsaturated fats, cooking makes extra-virgin olive oil very susceptible to oxidative damage so it’s best to use it for “quick” cooking not frying and instead drizzle it over your salads! (Coconut and palm oil are best for med-high heat cooking.)

Olive oil, when left out in the open will go rancid very quickly. Take care of your olive oil by keeping it in a dark and cool place, always closing the lid after each use, and buy smaller bottles to ensure freshness.

Also make sure you are buying real extra-virgin olive oil that has been inspected and approved by the international olive oil commission because many brands – even the popular ones – are putting fake stuff.

A dab of olive oil will bring out the shine in your shoes as well as spruce up a leather bag.

Dab olive oil on those annoying stickers they put on everything you buy. Let it sit for a bit then easily remove them.

Well there you go — my house cleaning and ageless beauty secrets are out! I even threw some recipes in there because a woman will get huuuungry doing all that stuff!

Now go spring clean your make-up drawer and your cleaning products and detoxify your life in every way.

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The biggest reason to choose natural skin care and makeup products is so that you limit your exposure to toxic chemicals that may cause cancer or other diseases. Why put yourself at risk with parabens and other petro-chemicals, when you can easily choose products that are healthier and better for you?

Natural skin care treatments and beauty products are readily available and cost almost the same, if not cheaper.

5 Steps to “Slowly” Go Natural

1. Switch over the products you use the most, your face moisturizer and body lotion.

These are the products we use daily and if they are filled with toxins—they can be harmful to our health. Think about it. We use these products every single day—sometimes multiple times a day. Do you want to apply chemical laden products on your face and body that often?

If you’re applying a moisturizer laced with parabens and petro-chemicals every single day, what do you think your chances are that your cells will absorb these toxic chemicals and turn them into cancer cells?

It may or may not happen, but is the risk worth it? Especially if there are natural products you can use?

Instead, go natural with these moisturizers:

Olive oil

Coconut oil

Vitamin E oil

Argan Oil

With anything I recommend on my blog—exercise caution—and then be the scientist and guinea pig. Try them out on yourself and discover which one works best for you.

2. Change your shampoo and conditioner.

Stay away from shampoos and conditioners with sulfates because it can dry-out your hair and strip your natural oils. Look into natural hair products with neem oil to restore scalp health. Use products with olive, coconut, or argan oil to boost hair health and shine.

3. Change your lipstick and lip-gloss.

Update your lip products because you’re not only wearing them—you’re ingesting them. You are exposing yourself to the chemicals in the lipstick or chapstick every time you lick your lips, drink, and eat.

So not only are the toxic chemicals on your skin, they’re in your stomach.

Use natural oils to moisturize your lips and use lipstick from natural make-up brands like Tarte, Josie Maran, and Bare Escentuals to name a few.

4. Replace your makeup and beauty products one at a time.

The reason for this is so that you can take your time and figure out which products you’ll replace them with. To save money, ask for samples of the green beauty products you want to try so that you can find the right fit for your skin and look.

5. Start thinking natural outside of the “makeup box” 😉

Other places to go natural are with your toothpaste, laundry detergents, and cleaning products. Find a way to limit your exposure to toxic chemicals. Choose healthier products that are less harmful to you and the planet and feel revamped and rejuvenated — naturally!

1. Keep Googling

UCLA scientists found that internet searching can improve brain health and cognitive skills. As people search online they inevitably have to make decisions such as which items to click and what information to read which engages important cognitive circuits in the brain.

Whether you’re researching the latest anti-aging technique or why birds fly south, the benefits to your brain are the same. By spending a few minutes each day searching topics you are interested in, you can boost your brainpower.

2. Exercise Regularly

Several studies have found that physical fitness improves brain health and can prevent brain deterioration.

Exercising reduces stress on the brain and body. The brain releases norepinephrine, a chemical that can moderate the brain’s stress response. Exercising regularly can build brain tissue and create new neurons.

A Cardiff University study found that exercise can stave off or delay dementia. A study by Laura F. DeFina, MD, of The Cooper Institute in Dallas, found that middle-aged people who incorporated physical fitness significantly reduced risk of developing dementia later in life.

All physical activity constitute as exercise so find the most fun method for you and do it consistently to enjoy the brain boosting benefits.

3. Drink Moderately

Excessive drinking causes neurological damage which can be visible in an MRI.

Drinking more that 1 alcoholic beverage a day may increase the chance of alcohol related brain issues.

4. Eat Blueberries

New research shows that the purple-hued fruits may help sharpen your thought processes.

The researchers theorize that anthocyanin, which is the dark blue pigment found in blueberries, is responsible for these cognitive changes; it has chemicals that may cross the blood-brain barrier and lodge in regions that govern learning and memory.

5. Brush and Floss Your Teeth

A link has been found between brain deterioration and poor dental hygiene.

A recent study from the University of Central Lancashire School of Medicine and Dentistry found Lipopolysaccharide, a component of Porphyromonas gingivalis — a type of gum disease — present in patients with dementia.

7. Meditate Regularly

Meditation will decrease stress on the brain and body aiding the body systems. From releasing feel-good hormones to providing mental clarity, meditation is by far one of the best things you can do for your brain.

Meditation of course relaxes you, but it also gives your brain a workout. By nurturing different mental states, you engage your brain in new and interesting ways.

There are a few types of meditations that can help with improving brain health such as visualization exercises, lucid dreaming, quantum jumping, and thought guidance to name a few.

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Improving your chances at living longer and enhancing your natural beauty comes down to lifestyle choices. Here’s are 15 things you should give up to increase the likelihood of achieving good health, longevity, and an ageless appearance.

1. Give up smoking.

The memo is out. Smoking ages you. Smoking leads to death.

People who smoke typically die at an earlier age. 1 in every 5 deaths in the United States is linked to cigarette smoke. Smoking increases all other health risks such as a heart attack, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and death.

Smoking dries your skin, turns it yellow, and creates fine lines and wrinkles on your face, especially around the lip area. Smoking alters your facial muscles, rots your teeth and gums, and increases your production of free radicals all of which leads to premature aging. Take a look at the tobacco body website and see how smoking transforms your body.

Alcohol impairs judgement which may lead to deadly accidents. In the Unites States alone there are over 40,000 alcohol related deaths a year.

Alcohol dehydrates the skin giving way to wrinkles and other signs of aging. It makes you bloated and may increase cellulite. Mixed and fruity alcoholic drinks are high in sugar and calories which will lead to weight gain.

3. Give up processed foods and soda.

Processed foods and soda are the cause of obesity. Processed foods are low in nutrients and high in calories. Americans spend about 90% of their food budget on processed foods.

Not only are processed foods lacking in vitamins and minerals, they are loaded with dangerous food additives such as fructose, GMO’s, MSG, and 3000 other food additives used for preservatives, coloring, and flavoring.

These additives are linked to cancer, immune problems, digestive problems, infertility, and accelerated aging to name a few.

Processed foods are linked to excess inflammation in the body which contributes to aches and pain, fatigue, and swelling.

70% of all antibiotics used in the U.S. goes to treating animals primarily as growth enhancers. Ingesting animals treated with growth hormones may cause cancer and other diseases that will contribute to your early death.

No amount of processed meat is good for you. Conventionally raised meats are tainted with metals and are festering with antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

When you have rampant inflammation in the body from ingesting processed foods, are loaded up on growth-hormones derived from contaminated meats, your body systems are working overtime causing them to age faster.

Limit or eliminate your exposure to these chemicals because they are linked to serious health issues such as hormone disruption, cancer, and death.

8. Give up extreme partying.

Extreme partying is a never-ending lifestyle of alcohol, drugs, unprotected sex, and other behaviors when combined and done in excess will lead to an untimely end and a mugshot looking like a crack-fiend.

9. Give up toxic relationships.

A toxic relationship is a relationship that harms you physically, mentally, emotionally, and / or spiritually.

Minor or major, injury to your well-being may lead to an early demise, will certainly stress you into aging faster, and will impede on your happiness.

10. Give up watching too much TV.

They go on to say that watching endless TV is just as bad as smoking and not exercising. In fact, just 2 hours of TV a day increases your chance of having type 2 diabetes and heart disease by 20%.

Will watching incessant TV make you look old or unattractive?

Imagine not getting any sun, physical activity, meaningful connections with real people, and all the while getting fat because you’re sitting in front of the television (or computer) for hours on end.

Yup, not that cute.

11. Give up sitting for long periods of time.

In the book, Sitting Kills, Moving Heals by Dr. Joan Vernikos former director of NASA’s Life Sciences Division provides a scientific explanation on the ill effects of sitting.

Simply stated, the increased aging they observed in astronauts were also happening to people in stationery positions (bedridden or sitting) for long periods of time.

After a certain age, the human body begins to lose muscle and bone mass at the rate of 1% a year, but in space, that is accelerated 10-fold. Astronauts may lose this amount within one week to one month while in space.

12. Give up extreme sports and fitness.

If your goal is to live a long, healthy, pain-free, and ageless lifestyle then extreme sports and high-intensity, high-impact fitness is not for you.

Over-training and going “beast-mode” regularly create too much wear and tear on the body, increasing the chance for chronic aches and pain, and rate of injury.

Professional athletes pay a price for bringing their body to spectacular limits. A low body fat percentage can interfere with normal metabolic functions and can make you appear older than you are. Massive muscles, coupled with strenuous activity, will undermine joint and connective tissue health.

High-intensity, high-impact movements repeated tirelessly will promote extreme fatigue, over-use injuries, and may result in more serious health conditions such as rhabdomyolysis (extreme muscle injury that can be fatal.)

Extreme exercises place more oxidative stress on the body in comparison to moderate exercising.Increased oxidative stress on the body will result in the body forming more free radicals effectively damaging cells and aging the body faster.

13. Give up wearing shoes all the time.

Always wearing shoes undermines the strength and integrity of the body making it susceptible to health problems and injury.

Most shoes weaken the ankle and foot muscles, causing them to be unstable which may lead to a fall and serious injury

High-heeled shoes compromises posture which may lead to chronic back, knee, and foot pain

Ill-fitting shoes deform the feet and may lead to foot pain

Shoes prevent the ability to discharge the positive charge accumulated from being disconnected from the earth which may create inflammation in the body leading to serious health problems — see “grounding” or “earthing”

14. Give up sweating the small stuff.

Always worrying about stuff that is not important will cause everything from gray hair to ulcers.

Constant worry will stress the body making it ripe to develop high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, or more serious health problems.

Overly distressing can lead to smoking, over-eating, binge drinking, and other unhealthy habits that may lead to an early passing.

Excessive worry leads to breakouts and wrinkles.

15. Give up being unhappy.

Holding on to anger, sadness, and disappointment does little to change ones circumstance. Constant negative thinking only creates more unhappiness.

During duress, the body releases stress hormones that create an imbalance within the body, throwing it off from its homeostasis. If these sad feelings and negative state of being don’t relent, the body may seriously be affected.

An unhappy face and body looks fatigued, wizened, and has no energy. A face that is constantly annoyed, irritated, and worried has the unattractive wrinkles to show for it.

Being unhappy is the worst thing you can do for your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Dwelling in unhappiness will create an unhealthy living environment that will lead to serious health issues, premature aging, and maybe even death. (Heal your emotional issues sister!)

Happiness is a choice.

One merely has to choose to be it and then follow through with concerted action to make it happen.

No one can escape death or aging, but one can create a life that promotes health, happiness, and an ageless existence so that when death arrives, there are not too many regrets.

Recently I had the privilege to talk with Katrina Mayer. Katrina is an author and motivational speaker who speaks about health, happiness, and longevity.

Her first book, The Mustard Seed Way is a top seller in Amazon with reviews like, “The mustard seed way is the everyday way.”

Her second book called, Wholarian Vision has garnered her a Facebook following of over 33,000 followers.

I learned about Katrina when I was researching who were the top influencers out there in the field of ageless living.

More importantly, who was doing it in a holistic and natural way that incorporated spirituality. Because at Inspire Youthful, we believe health, happiness, and an ageless lifestyle begins with a nurtured spirit.

I’m very happy to be able to speak with Katrina and have her share with you all her deep insights about health, happiness, and ageless living.

The following were the questions I asked Katrina, please watch the video for her insightful and informative answers.

1. What’s the biggest tip you can tell the viewers about how to live an ageless lifestyle?

2. Tell us the story of how you came to be a health and longevity expert?

3. Certain buzz words pop up when one begins to discover information about longevity and ageless living. One of those words are telomeres.

Can you tell us a briefly about telomeres. What they are, what they do, and how they affect aging?

4. Can you tell us your thoughts about the difference between biological age vs. chronological age?

5. Some of the reasons people are interested in ageless living is so that one, they can look ageless, two, be healthy and disease free, and three, be energetic and vibrant.

Will you tell us, as an ageless lifestyle advocate, what it is like in a day in Katrina’s life? What do you do to look, feel, and be your best?

6. Finally, is there anything you would like to share with the viewers about ageless living, you, or anything new on the horizon?

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Today is going to be a total “girls” video because I’m sharing what’s in my makeup bag!

Before I do the reveal, I just want to give a brief history of when I changed my makeup products and beauty regiment, why I did it, and what’s been happening to my skin and overall health since then.

My why…

I’ve gone through different periods of makeup styles; times when I wore a lot, and times when I wore less. I would say makeup is a way to express yourself and at times could speak volumes about your state of mind.

I grew up not being allowed to wear makeup. In junior high I remember vividly girls telling me if I wore some makeup I could be prettier so I started wearing lip-gloss. By the time I was in high school I was drawing in my eyebrows like Groucho Marx because my best friend at the time had these beautiful thick eyebrows and I guess I wanted to look like her. I looked pretty silly.

Then of course I went through having no eyebrows, just lines drawn in that made me look like I was surprised all the time. (The eyebrow memory lane is so embarrassing!)

In my late twenties I went through a phase of wearing no makeup and wearing sweats all the time. You could probably could imagine my state of mind during that period.

It was in my thirties when I really discovered my look and found comfort in my own skin. I started to appreciate what was beautiful about me, on the outside and inside. I think it’s something all women go through; no matter how others view you, you’re always a harsher judge on yourself.

I believe many women easily discount their good qualities and are quick to focus on their flaws and failures. To this regard, I can only say that finding yourself, discovering your inner beauty, and uncovering your outer beauty is a journey worth taking. And that journey begins when you start making spirituality a bigger priority in your life.

My thirties were defined by my quest to be healthier in mind, body, and spirit. I started to eat better, workout more, and get back into meditation and prayer.

It was during this time that my skin care and beauty regiment also shifted. I had stopped wearing makeup for about 3 years and when I was ready to wear some again, I thought the makeup I owned didn’t represent me anymore. I also thought, “Does makeup have an expiration date?” And they do.

So I cleaned up my makeup drawer, through away tons of stuff and started over. There’s more to the story, but that’s the gist of it.

Now I wash my face with brown sugar and olive oil. Brush my teeth with neem toothpaste and try to be as natural about my makeup as I can. I was reborn a hippie and thank God for that because natural is the way to go.

Going natural, like using olive oil for my face and body moisturizer I believe is the main reason I have clear and youthful skin at the age of 40.

Using products that are toxic chemical free, I feel like I’m protecting my body from unnecessary exposure to things that may cause me harm. Supporting companies that create healthier products for women really makes me feel good because our dollars and our demand is what informs the industry of what we want. And we should want to tell them that we buy and demand healthier, well labeled, and sustainably made products.

To learn my full skin care regiment checkout my video on the benefits of olive oil.

What’s in my makeup bag =)

I’ll show you the makeup products in the order that I use them.

My primer of choice is Amazing Cosmetics Anti-Aging Primer.

After my olive oil moisturizer has been absorbed by my skin I apply a natural primer around my eyes and face. Primer helps to keep makeup in place. This particular primer also has anti-aging benefits. I’ve tried many primers and this is the one I’ve used for the last few years and I am very happy with it.

Then I apply a bareMinerals tinted moisturizer all over my face.

I choose to wear a tinted moisturizer instead of a full coverage foundation because the latter just looks too heavy for me. Also heavy foundations can make you look older, settling in your fine lines, although a good primer will prevent that from happening. I’m not averse to foundation, I would opt for it for a special event where I wanted to look flawless, but for everyday use, in my opinion it’s a lot.

Next I use concealer by Josie Maran to cover up any dark circles and imperfections I may have.

All her products, from ingredients to packaging are natural and socially responsible. She has created a beauty line that is a wonderful and an effective alternative to the usual makeup and I love buying and supporting her brand.

I use her concealer just underneath my eyes, next to the nose area, as well as the nose and upper lip area. I set the concealer with loose powder, applying powder only on my nose, eyes, and upper lip area.

I do not wear powder all over my face as I think it can make you look older and too made-up. I may use more powder when I go out at night, but most of the time I don’t.

My powder of choice is bareMinerals because again, they are made without harmful chemicals.

My favorite makeup product is bronzer also made by bareMinerals.

If I was stuck on an island with only one piece of makeup, it would have to be my bronzer. It just makes you look so healthy and vibrant looking. Aside from my skin, it’s the thing that I get the most compliments on.

I apply bronzer on the hollows of my cheeks, and a touch on my chin and forehead.

My next favorite makeup is my blush by Laura Geller.

I don’t know how popular this brand is, but it was a lucky to find for me. It has the perfect blend of pinks and golds that create the youthful glow I love.

If you want to look youthful and alive-looking, don’t leave home without some blush. I place it on the apples of my cheeks, maybe a touch on my eye lids and voila instant pow! You look alive! I know that may sound weird, but women know exactly what I’m talking about.

Then I thicken the look of my eye brows with my Anastasia brow pencil and highlighter.

Anastasia products are not known to be chemical free, and it’s my goal to change it. So if any of you have a healthy eyebrow pencil alternative please share it with me.

For now I don’t feel so bad using it because supporting her brand also means supporting the charitable organizations her company supports which are many, most of which improve the lives of women and children around the world.

But, I would switchover to support a brand that was natural and Eco friendly so that it will show companies like Anastasia what is important to me.

It’s important to have an eyebrow shape that compliments and adds lift to your face to help achieve an ageless look.

Next I will put on a little eye shadow to create brighter looking eyes with my Josie Maran eye-shadow kits.

Lighter colors in the insides of your eye lid area, draws the attention of people to your eyes and adds to the brightness of your face.

I use Tarte eye-liners.

Tarte is another cosmetic company that chooses to create natural and Eco friendly products. I use the their clay pencil for my day look and now they just came out with a liquid liner that I will use for my evening look.

I like to draw my eyeliner like cat-eyes because it creates the appearance of lifted eyes, enhancing an ageless appearance, and I think it’s pretty.

Finding a natural mascara that works can be tricky, but I finally found one. It’s Physicians Formula Organic Wear Fake Out.

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Mother Nature produces amazing medicinal natural oils. Presently there are over 100 essential oils. One such powerful oil that has many uses including health and beauty is neem oil.

Neem oil is extracted from the seeds of the neem fruit and smells nutty and garlicky. Neem trees are native to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and are used in ayurvedic medicine.

The neem tree is revered in India, described as a “sacred” and “healing” tree. Neem leaves, bark, and flower have been used to treat malaria, leprosy, diabetes, ulcers, asthma and so much more.

Ayurvedic practitioners use neem oil as an antifugal, antiviral, antibacterial, antidiabetic, and to treat various skin diseases. Neem oil has two elements named nimbin and nimbidin which are known as defense mechanism building elements, by which neem oil acts like an antiviral and anti-bacterial agent.

Neem oil can be dangerous and is not recommended to be used by pregnant, women who want to be pregnant, or women who are lactating. Using neem oil for serious health issues such as those listed above should only be done so with the supervision of a medical professional or qualified person.

I use neem oil to keep up good dental hygiene, healthy hair, and have used it to treat skin irritations.

Neem oil for clear and ageless skin

Used for centuries, neem leaves and oil are effective at treating acne, skin irritations, blemishes, acnes scars, and aging signs. Neem oil with its anti-bacterial properties removes bacteria from skin that may result in break outs. It consists of a compound that acts equal to aspirin which helps remove the acne causing bacteria.

The antioxidants present in neem oil can aid the skin to look young by preventing free radical damage. The regular application of neem oil on your face will help lessen the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Use the water from boiled neem leaves to treat skin. Dab cotton ball and treat affected areas.

Make sure to exfoliate your skin prior to oil treatment for best results.

Neem oil for white teeth and healthy gums

Not only will neem oil naturally whiten your teeth, it will reduce tooth decay, cancer sores, and gingivitis problems.

Chew on the neem bark for healthy teeth and gums.

Put a few drops of neem oil between your fingers and run dental floss through your fingers, spreading the oil on the floss. Then floss as usual for healthy gums.

Use neem powder or a few drops of oil on your tooth-brush and brush as usual for white teeth.

Use tooth paste with neem oil to brush your teeth.

Neem oil for healthy and beautiful hair

Neem oil and extract can also be found as active ingredient in shampoos. It is believed to cure dandruff in a natural way. Neem based shampoos aid to flush out the scalp related problems like itchy scalp and psoriasis.

The regular usage of neem oil prevents hair loss and promotes the hair growth from its roots. The essential oil can also treat frizzy hair.

Add a few drops of oil to your regular shampoo and use it on your hair, leave it for a few minutes, and then rinse.

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Today I will be sharing with you how to prevent, minimize, and reduce the signs of aging in and around the eyes.

I will be sharing with you my holistic approach which consist of preventative, maintenance, and mindful measures to keep your peepers looking their best. I’m also going to give a few make-up tips to enhance your ageless beauty.

10 different signs of aging that can appear in and around the eye area are:

1. Reduction of vision

2. Crows feet

3. Dark circles underneath the eyes

4. Dryness in the skin around the eyes

5. Loss of elasticity in the skin

6. Puffy eyes

7. Eye dryness

8. Redness around the whites of the eyes

9. Sad and worried eyes

10. Vacant eyes or zombie eyes

Preventative measures that will keep the eyes as healthy and beautiful as possible

1. Keep your vision quality by doing eye exercises.

Eye exercises improve eye strength, the ability to focus, eye movements, and stimulates the vision centers of the brain. Eye exercises will not help people with nearsightedness or existing eye conditions, but it has been shown that eye exercises can force the brain to see through the amblyopic eye — lazy eye — which can improve vision.

The 3 exercises I personally do are:

Changing focus from near to far, then back to near again. For example, I might be reading from my kindle and then to rest and refocus my eyes, I will look at a wall clock or something far off for a few seconds then return to my reading.

I also like to practice reading far away text with one eye at time. It’s something I’ve done since I was a kid and it’ just a game to me. But I have been told by the doctor that I have 20/15 eye vision and so these games must be working.

And finally my last exercise which is a game I think many families have played on long road trips, is testing yourself to see how far you can see by reading the signs on the road.

If you exercise your eyes just like you exercise the muscles in your body, you will keep up your eye strength and in some cases, improve eye strength.

2. During the day, when outside, always wear sunglasses.

Protect your eyes and skin around the eyes from the sun, glare, wind, pollution, and particles that are floating in the air. Sunglasses protect your eyes from harmful UV radiation that can cause damage to the cornea and eye lens as well as the skin around the eyes.

Sunglasses shield the eyes from wind and environmental pollutants that can cause irritation, drying, and the creation and perpetuation of crow wrinkles from squinting. Keep a pair in your purse and in your car and never be outside without one.

3. Get plenty of rest for your eyes.

Get a good night sleep to properly rest the eyes and body. The length of time for a good night sleep is different for everyone. A barometer of health is that a person should feel energized when they wake up. If you feel sluggish after waking, and can’t function without copious amounts of caffeine throughout the day, you are not getting enough sleep.

Lack of sleep will contribute to eye fatigue, dark circles, puffiness, eye redness, and the possession of zombie looking eyes. Zombie eyes is when you look dazed, lost, and about to fall over from tiredness.

How to keep up healthy and beautiful eyes:

1. Pay extra care moisturizing the skin around the eyes.

Use natural oils to moisturize the eye area such as olive oil, coconut oil, vitamin E oil, or argan oil. Everyday I use olive oil as my eye moisturizer, but towards the end of the week or after a particularly hard day at work, I will cut open a vitamin E capsule and mix it with my olive oil to give my eyes some extra moisture, nutrients, and love.

When applying eye cream make sure to tap and pat. Try not to pull or stretch the skin around the eyes.

Our eyes work a lot and they need breaks just like a waiter in a restaurant. In fact, you can apply employment labor codes 512 and 226.7 of the CA labor code to your eye resting regiment. ^.^

Every four hours of strenuous eye work and concentration, your eyes should get a 15-30 minute break. Close your eyes for a 1-3 minutes taking deep breaths, apply gentle pressure on the eye and forehead area with the back of your hands or forearm, or take a nap.

When available, place caffeinated wet tea bags, sliced and chilled cucumbers, or a cold eye mask to rejuvenate the eyes.

The caffeine from tea has blood vessel-constricting benefits to minimize the appearance of redness and puffiness. Caffeine and any tea in general has antioxidants that fight against oxidation damage in the body caused by free radicals which may be the cause of aging.

Chilled cucumbers are said to reduce swelling and increase hydration of the skin around the eyes. This is most likely because of the cold effect of the cucumber- it’s similar to putting an eye mask ice-pack. And the hydration is probably attributed to the fact that cucumbers are 90% water.

Do a lymphatic facial flush which only takes 2-3 minutes to reduce the look of fatigue and puffiness around your eyes. Check out my how-to video.

Mindful measure to promote ageless eyes and overall well-being

Stop making what I call bad wrinkles and be more accepting of good wrinkles.

Bad wrinkles to me are wrinkles created from worried, angry, irritated, or annoyed facial expressions. Instead create happy-to-be-alive wrinkles which are facial lines that are enhanced from laughing and smiling. Those are wrinkles worth having in spades!

One way to stop or reduce bad wrinkles from forming is to have better reactions to stressful triggers.

Life is a series of tests or if you’re like me and view life as a game, then it’s just a series of challenges where you have the chance to level up.

In most challenge scenarios there are three skills that I think help a person handle a situation with confidence and a semblance of control. Those are:

having a quick understanding of the situation at hand,

the ability to be flexible,

and the ability to see the bigger picture.

With that in mind, when you are in stressful circumstances, try to keep your head about you. Take a few calming breaths, asses the situation, identify its place in the grand scheme of things, and try be be accepting and flexible about handling the stress.

What you’ll find is that many things that irritate and annoy you are trivial and are not worth the worry lines you spend on them.

Finally, makeup tips to enhance your ageless beauty:

Do not use powder or heavy foundation around the outer edges of the eye as the makeup will collect between the wrinkles making them more prominent.

Use a natural primer underneath your makeup to help prevent makeup from settling in these fine lines.

Heavy eyeliner on the bottom lid or water-line of your eye can draw more attention to wrinkles.

The cat-like eye liner is my go-to eyeliner style to create lift in the eyes and to draw attention away from any lines that may or may-not be there.

Curl your eye lashes as it will give the appearance of bigger and awake-looking eyes.

By the way this is a close-up of my eye without make-up, filters, or any photoshopping

I think after 40 years of living, it’s not bad. My techniques could work just as well for you.

Two preventative measures for forehead wrinkles

Speak in a way that your forehead does not move. And no I do not mean with the help of botox, but instead with conscious effort.

Forehead lines are created by your facial muscle contractions. For the most part, these contractions are subconsciously done. But you can start to consciously control them like the way you control the other muscle contractions in your body.

To do this, begin with observing yourself in the mirror. Do you speak with your forehead?

If you do, try not to do it. As you speak, think in your mind, “Do not move the forehead”.

This thought will tell your mind to communicate with the nerves that cause forehead contractions to be still.

It will take some practice, but once your mind and body have agreed that you don’t want this specific contraction to happen, it will cease to do so. Or at the least, it will be minimized.

2. Protect your forehead during extreme weather.

In extreme cold and wind, the facial skin can become dry, cracked, and susceptible to permanent wrinkles.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the description, a weathered face. This is a face that has suffered the effects of harsh environments and looks old, wrinkled, and wizened.

In the cold and windy weather use a beanie to protect your forehead skin. In hot weather, use a minimum of 15 SPF or higher depending on the sensitivity of your particular skin. Also use a hat when you’re in the sun for a long period of time.

Maintenance measure

The best maintenance measure to prevent and care for forehead wrinkles is to moisturize the face at least 2x a day.

Use a natural moisturizer like olive oil or coconut oil. Both oils nourish the skin and provide antioxidants that help fight the signs of aging.

When applying oil to your face, make sure you have exfoliated the dead skin off, and have the face slightly damp when you apply the oil.

Mindful measures

Excessive worry causes wrinkles.

Learn positive ways to deal with stress so you can worry less. Here are mindful measures to prevent and minimize forehead wrinkles:

1. Daily or frequent meditation will help in stress and wrinkle management.

2. Try mind & body practices such as Tai Chi or Yoga.

Both could be considered movement meditation and will aid in relieving mental and physical stress.

3. Change your thought patterns from negative to positive.

Positively changing your perspective on any situation will change the reality of it decreasing your worry and stress levels.

Lastly, I believe that our deepest thoughts create our reality so think thoughts that will bring about a reality where you are healthy, vibrant, and ageless.

I wrote a blog post specifically about “thinking yourself ageless” and it’s a good read if you want to adopt an ageless view of yourself.

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Today I am here to share with you how I do a lymphatic facial flush on myself, where I learned it, why you too should be doing this light self-massage, and how it can help you be healthier and look more youthful.

10 Step Lymphatic Flush Facial Self-Massage:

Wash your hands and face. Apply a creamy moisturizer. I use olive oil or coconut oil.

With the gentleness you would use with touching a new babies skin begin with light tapping on the forehead, right above the eye brows. Use your 3 long fingers of each hand mowing across the eyebrow ridge for 10 seconds.

Follow with light tapping underneath the eye area, right above the cheek bones for 10 seconds

Using your ring finger, gently tap with an outward motion starting where you eyes meet you nose then out to your temple area for 10 seconds.

Create a peace sign with your first and middle finger and gently caress in a downward motion the skin around the ear and throat area.

With arms crossed, use the your ring and middle finger to massage the chin and lower jaw area. Slide fingers to the outside of the jaw area for 10x.

With arms crossed, use your 3 long fingers and gently caress in downward motion the sides of your throat 10x.

With you arms crossed, using you ring and middle finger, gently caress your collar-bone in an outward motion towards your shoulders.

Repeat massage 2x

Drink plenty of water after you do the massage to aid your body in removing waste, toxins, and excess water.

Now you know how to do the facial lymphatic massage let me tell you where I learned this technique and the top 3 reasons why you should be doing it.

I started getting facials in my early twenties to support healthy skin. I have gone to the same person for almost 20 years. Her name is Mitchiko Hata and if you are ever in San Francisco you should look her up. With full endorsement from me and my friends who use her, she is the best of the best.

At first, I thought it was some machine she used to massage my face, but come to find out it was her gentle and dare I say, magical hands. Because I liked the effects so much I decided to do some internet research and see if I could replicate her system.

Of course YouTube offered some of the best information on this and a long with my experience of Mitchiko’s magical hands, I joined them to create this simple step-by-step

3 reasons to do facial massaging:

1. It helps to remove toxins and keep your cells healthy.

The lymph system is part of the body’s natural defense system. Through self massage you can aid your lymph system to deliver nutrients to your cells and carry away cellular waste, bacteria, and toxins.

2. It helps to keep you from looking puffy.

The lymph system carries excess water away. Through daily massage you can encourage this and reveal a less swollen-looking appearance.

In fact, a full-body lymphatic massage can aid in all types of swelling from surgery, injury recovery, to fatigue. In cases such as these it’s best to see an experienced massage specialist.

3. It promotes an ageless appearance by invigorating the skin, tissues, and nerves around your face.

Just like a full body massage helps to relieve stress in the body, gentle caressing of the face muscles will smooth away stress and fatigue awakening a more vibrant you. As well, self-massage makes you feel good, contributing to a positive self-image.

When is the best time to do facial massaging?

I like to do my facial massaging after I wash my face in the evening because I can take my time. I do it in the morning if I have an important event to go to and I definitely do it when I feel mucussy. (Is that a word? It should be because we’ve all been there!) Lymphatic facial massage really helps to drain the fluids that can build up in your sinus area due to cold or allergies.